Vrishabhavathi Valley treatment plant proves a white elephant

Vrishabhavathi Valley treatment plant proves a white elephant
Vijay Times

Bangalore: In another instance of precious resources going waste, water treated at the Rs-35 crore sewage treatment plant of the Bangalore W ater Supply and Sewage Board’s (BWSSB) at V rishabhavathi V alley on Mysore Road is finding no takers.

The plant built with much fanfare and said to be the biggest in Asia has a capacity to treat 6 crore litres of sewage water a day , but it is under-utilised at only 1.5 crore litres of water being processed every day , thanks to the lack of demand, even from its dedicated clients. Shockingly , most of the treated water , which can be readily used for non-domestic purposes is returned to the drain finding no users.

"W e have capacity for a sewage input of 18 crore litres a day , which undergoes primary and secondary treatment, out of which only six crore litres can make it to the tertiary treatment stage. But as we do not have enough buyers, only 1.5 crore a day is sent for tertiary treatment, leaving the rest to go waste" explains a senior BWSSB official. Of the treated water , 1.2 crore litres a day are utilised by a few garment mills and the treatment plant manages to sell it at a total cost of Rs 1 lakh per month.

The current rate of treated water is Rs 10 per kilo litre.

The key intention behind setting up the plant in 2003 was that the treated water from here could serve as a cooling agent for a proposed power plant near Bidadi, to be built by the Karnataka Power Corporation Limited (KPCL). But, with the power plant not showing any sign of moving beyond the drawing board, the water treated at the plant is going down the drain, literally . The plan to draw gas from Mangalore for the power plant too is facing many a glitch.

But what is heartening is that all is not lost for the water treatment plant even if the Bidadi plant does not come up. Says S Krishnappa, Executive Engineer , V rishabhavathi W ater T reatment Project, "W e are planning to lay pipes to supply treated water to various industries lining the Mysore Road.

The water can also be provided for gardening, to the fire department and other non-domestic purposes in areas adjoining the Ring Road." G S Sastry , an expert in water management has the final word.

"W e need to be more serious about such projects," he says. That is proper planning before any project is conceived, so that the tax-payers’ money doesn’t go down the drain.